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The Greenhouse that's Changing Lives in Calgary
Hull Services, Calgary, CA
A teacher’s vision for a humble, regenerative greenhouse planted a seed whose life-changing impact continues to grow. Here’s how it happened.
Vaden Somers didn’t set out to build a life-changing greenhouse…
He just wanted a garden.
Vaden had moved to Calgary to teach woodshop at the William Roper Hull School, which provides specialized care for students facing behavioral and emotional challenges. In his off-time, he wanted to connect with nature. He started with a small garden outside his window, and it didn’t take long to realize how therapeutic it was – or how much he enjoyed the work. So, he promptly ripped out the rest of his yard to build a larger garden and a food forest where he could explore his newfound passion for learning about regenerative growing techniques.
Then, the penny dropped. As therapeutic as this was for him, it would do wonders for the students at his school. And it just so happened there was a big chunk of land out behind the school that wasn’t being used…
The Challenge
There was just one thing in the way - the calendar.
If you’ve visited Calgary in the middle of one of its bone-chilling winters, it will come as no surprise that it has a cripplingly short growing season with only 90-100 frost-free days in the year. Add to that, the students are out of school during the best growing months in the summer.
Vaden’s studies in permaculture and regenerative land management gave him an idea. A passive solar greenhouse would extend the growing season, allowing students to being work as early as March and then continue it on as late as November. A greenhouse would also fuel the success of the outdoor garden. It would be a place where seedlings and starter plants could be grown and then planted outside when the weather was right.
Vaden sought 5th World’s guidance to bring his vision to life.
Vaden first proposed the greenhouse project to a local engineering firm, Fluor, hoping they’d make a modest donation to the project. Instead, they became its champion, donating more than $200,000 dollars to date along with hundreds of volunteer hours.
They could help build the structure, but the school would still need an expert consultant to design the building and engineer the passive solar technology. Vaden reached out to 5th World’s Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, Rob Avis, to consult on the project.
Immediately, Rob was able to help Vaden do more than just design the right system for the greenhouse. He was able to help Vaden properly scope and budget the project and design it to meet the needs of his students.
Why is passive solar so effective?
Passive solar greenhouses are extremely energy-efficient structures which excel at capturing the natural heat of the sun, which Calgary has in abundance. Even though it’s cold most of the year, it’s also sunny!
Even more impressive than a passive solar greenhouse’s ability to capture heat is its ability to store it. In the summer, heat is literally stored beneath the structure in earth tubes deep underground and then leveraged as a low-energy heating solution in the winter. These are the critical systems 5th World designed and continue to help Vaden optimize.
In fact, several years into the life of the greenhouse, further optimizations have made it possible for students to use the greenhouse year-round, even though the outdoor temperature dips as low as -40 ⁰C in the winter there.
The therapeutic power of the passive solar greenhouse
“The results are immeasurable,” Vaden says. The school serves a wide range of the region’s most troubled students, from five-year-olds with complex mental health challenges to 18-year-olds coming out of the social justice system.
Within the greenhouse, students have found a sanctuary.
Gardening offers a highly-regulating, sensory-rich, therapeutic activity for children with developmental trauma, and the quiet of the greenhouse provides a particularly peaceful environment.
Communication becomes easier for many children while working in the greenhouse, and it teaches them relationship-building skills. One boy who is selectively mute will talk while working there.
The work students do in the greenhouse and garden teaches them life skills like collaboration, problem- solving, and cognitive flexibility, and it gives them a sense of accomplishment and pride.
On cold winter days, students can be found using the greenhouse as a quiet place to study and read while relaxing on the hammocks hanging from the ceiling.
The work students do in the greenhouse and garden teaches them life skills like collaboration, problem- solving, and cognitive flexibility, and it gives them a sense of accomplishment and pride.
Gardening offers a highly-regulating, sensory-rich, therapeutic activity for children with developmental trauma, and the quiet of the greenhouse provides a particularly peaceful environment.
On cold winter days, students can be found using the greenhouse as a quiet place to study and read while relaxing on the hammocks hanging from the ceiling.
Communication becomes easier for many children while working in the greenhouse, and it teaches them relationship-building skills. One boy who is selectively mute will talk while working there.
In the end, the school’s core belief is that every student has the potential to become a productive member of society, and the greenhouse is a surprisingly powerful means of empowering them on that journey.
“These are the toughest kids in the system. One of the kids who is very street savvy told me one day while we’re working, he’s like, “This project has allowed me to reframe my role in the community.” He said, “Now I see myself as someone who's giving to the community rather than someone who's taking from it.”
Vaden
Providing nutrient-dense food to low-income families
Hull’s students are all learning to give back to the community. They’re now a key part of a program called Patch which uses the garden to feed 10-20 low-income families from the community.
The garden is a growing source of nutrient-dense food for children and families in the region. It’s not uncommon for Vaden to meet students who have never eaten a green vegetable. They are truly being welcomed into a new, hopeful world when they step into the garden to pick their own, fresh food.
The impact of the greenhouse continues to grow.
5th World’s journey with Hull didn’t end once the greenhouse was built. Seeing its therapeutic potential, Rob Avis has also provided free permaculture training to Hull teachers interested in integrating it into their classwork and therapeutic work.
Vaden’s next step is to templatize the greenhouse-building process so it can be repeated by other schools and community organizations.
At its heart, the regeneration movement is about unleashing nature’s ability to create new life.
In Calgary, a once dormant, unused patch of land is doing exactly that, having been set free to bring new life and fresh hope to children who need it the most.
The story is just beginning. 5th World is proud to be a part of it, and will continue to support the growth of Hull’s greenhouse program and other community projects like it.
Regeneration is within reach, and we’ll be with you every step of the way.
Consulting Services
5th World’s consultants are among the world’s leading voices in regenerative land management. Their proven process transforms your land into a resilient source of food, water, and energy for generations to come.
Greenhouse Design
In addition to consulting, we design and build regenerative greenhouses. Discover how a custom, state-of-the-art greenhouse can be the centerpiece of your property’s design.
The story of Hull’s greenhouse cuts right to the heart of Regenerative Land Management. Their journey highlights our guiding principles at 5th World Consulting.
Resilience
Our world’s ecosystems are collapsing. We need landowners who are willing to show the world a hopeful path. Even though it often feels like the world is falling off of a cliff, humans can be just as regenerative as we are destructive!
Abundance
As much as regeneration is about survival, it is also about living in abundance and hope! There is great joy in building an anti-fragile, holistic, resilient ecosystem that provides a bountiful supply of food, water, and energy for your loved ones.
Serenity
Without a clear process to follow, the work of regenerating your land overwhelms as you try to solve every problem at once. We help you figure out where to focus your efforts for the greatest impact.